Published: Tuesday, July 8, 2014 at 04:02 PM.

Today, U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (NC), Chair of the Subcommittee on Children and Families, held a hearing on the growing need to address child-trafficking and private re-homing in the United States. The hearing, titled “Falling Through the Cracks: The Challenges of Prevention and Identification in Child Trafficking and Private Re-homing,” examined how child victims may go unidentified, misidentified or unreported because of gaps in training for health care providers, school personnel and social workers. Among the witnesses testifying was Ms. Abigail English of the Center for Adolescent Health & the Law in Chapel Hill, NC. This was the first hearing held in the Senate on the issue of private re-homing of adopted children.

“Within the borders of our country, children are living the nightmare of trafficking and re-homing on a daily basis,” said Hagan. “In the hallways of our high schools, kids are recruited into trafficking by peers and friends they thought they could trust. In our own neighborhoods, children are bought and sold online and shuffled around to homes and families that their adoptive parents have never met and who, in some cases, have a history of child abuse and neglect. We cannot allow these children to slip through our system unnoticed, and today’s hearing examined how we can better identify victims and at-risk youth so we can help them reclaim their childhoods and prevent more children from becoming victims in the future.”

One of the greatest challenges in combatting child trafficking and re-homing is the lack of reliable data around which law enforcement or policy responses can be structured. According to advocacy groups, this is partly because the crimes are unreported or underreported and victims are often misidentified as being prostitutes or troubled youth.

Today’s hearing focused on the importance of appropriate guidance and training for school personnel, health care providers and social workers to recognize signs and symptoms of trafficking and re-homing so that child victims are identified and treated accordingly.

“Health care professionals can play an important role in the prevention and identification of children and adolescents who are victims or who may be at risk of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking,” said Ms. English. “However, numerous barriers exist to limit identification by health care professionals of victims, survivors, and young people at risk. These barriers include a lack of understanding and awareness that results from stereotypes and misperceptions, and a lack of specific training.”

Ms. Jenee’ Littrell, Assistant Principal at Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego County, CA, added, “Everyone who is part of the school community – administrators, teachers, bus drivers, maintenance personnel, food service staff, resource officers, and others – has the potential to be an advocate for child victims of human trafficking, but, first, they must learn the indicators of the crime, its warning signs, and how to respond when a student is an apparent victim. In many cases, the adults on campus are the last responsible adults to touch these young people’s lives before they are victimized or lost to this crime.”

The hearing highlighted the bipartisan Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Human Trafficking Act, legislation Senator Hagan and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced last year to address these gaps. The bill combats sex and labor trafficking of children by ensuring front-line service providers have the tools needed to identify, educate and counsel child victims and at-risk youth, and ensure that law enforcement can better track missing children.

Today, U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (NC), Chair of the Subcommittee on Children and Families, held a hearing on the growing need to address child-trafficking and private re-homing in the United States. The hearing, titled “Falling Through the Cracks: The Challenges of Prevention and Identification in Child Trafficking and Private Re-homing,” examined how child victims may go unidentified, misidentified or unreported because of gaps in training for health care providers, school personnel and social workers. Among the witnesses testifying was Ms. Abigail English of the Center for Adolescent Health & the Law in Chapel Hill, NC. This was the first hearing held in the Senate on the issue of private re-homing of adopted children.

“Within the borders of our country, children are living the nightmare of trafficking and re-homing on a daily basis,” said Hagan. “In the hallways of our high schools, kids are recruited into trafficking by peers and friends they thought they could trust. In our own neighborhoods, children are bought and sold online and shuffled around to homes and families that their adoptive parents have never met and who, in some cases, have a history of child abuse and neglect. We cannot allow these children to slip through our system unnoticed, and today’s hearing examined how we can better identify victims and at-risk youth so we can help them reclaim their childhoods and prevent more children from becoming victims in the future.”

One of the greatest challenges in combatting child trafficking and re-homing is the lack of reliable data around which law enforcement or policy responses can be structured. According to advocacy groups, this is partly because the crimes are unreported or underreported and victims are often misidentified as being prostitutes or troubled youth.

Today’s hearing focused on the importance of appropriate guidance and training for school personnel, health care providers and social workers to recognize signs and symptoms of trafficking and re-homing so that child victims are identified and treated accordingly.

“Health care professionals can play an important role in the prevention and identification of children and adolescents who are victims or who may be at risk of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking,” said Ms. English. “However, numerous barriers exist to limit identification by health care professionals of victims, survivors, and young people at risk. These barriers include a lack of understanding and awareness that results from stereotypes and misperceptions, and a lack of specific training.”

Ms. Jenee’ Littrell, Assistant Principal at Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego County, CA, added, “Everyone who is part of the school community – administrators, teachers, bus drivers, maintenance personnel, food service staff, resource officers, and others – has the potential to be an advocate for child victims of human trafficking, but, first, they must learn the indicators of the crime, its warning signs, and how to respond when a student is an apparent victim. In many cases, the adults on campus are the last responsible adults to touch these young people’s lives before they are victimized or lost to this crime.”

The hearing highlighted the bipartisan Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Human Trafficking Act, legislation Senator Hagan and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced last year to address these gaps. The bill combats sex and labor trafficking of children by ensuring front-line service providers have the tools needed to identify, educate and counsel child victims and at-risk youth, and ensure that law enforcement can better track missing children.

North Carolina consistently ranks among the top 10 states in the country for human trafficking. Nationwide, an estimated 100,000 children are involved in the sex trade, at an average age of 12-14 years for a girl and 11-13 years for a boy.

Additionally, the hearing examined the issue of private re-homing, a practice highlighted last September when Reuters published the findings of an investigation into the online “advertising” and “re-homing” of adopted children, without the oversight of child welfare agencies. A number of stories in the report suggested the possibility of sexual abuse or exploitation of children who were placed by their adoptive parents into the homes of adults with a history of child abuse or child sexual exploitation.

“We discovered that over this five-year period, in this one forum alone, a child was offered to strangers on average once a week,” said Megan Twohey, the Reuters reporter who conducted the investigation, during today’s hearing. “The activity spanned the nation: Children in 34 states had been advertised. Many were transferred from parents in one state to families in another. At least 70 percent had been adopted from overseas, and many were said to suffer from physical, emotional or behavioral problems. It was clear from the online descriptions of these children that they were among society’s most vulnerable. Child abuse experts pointed out that their backgrounds--and the manner in which they were advertised--made them ripe for exploitation.”

Senator Hagan has been a strong advocate for improving the child welfare system, ensuring adoptive parents have the support they need, and combatting human trafficking since coming to the Senate. In addition to her bill with Senator Rubio, she is also a cosponsor of the Human Trafficking Prioritization Act, which elevates the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking and helps to make it more effective in carrying out its duties.